Palmatine attenuates the doxorubicin-induced inflammatory response, oxidative damage and cardiomyocyte apoptosis

As a natural isoquinoline alkaloid, palmatine (PLT) has been proven to play a protective role against a variety of cardiovascular diseases. However, little research on the effects of PLT on doxorubicin (DOX)-induced cardiotoxicity has been carried out. Thus, we investigated the potential functions of PLT in DOX-induced cardiotoxicity. In the present study, a single intraperitoneal injection of DOX (15 mg/kg) in mice was used to establish an acute cardiotoxicity model. Our study shows that PLT administration could reduce myocardial injury and improve cardiac dysfunction in DOX-treated mice. Further experiments showed that PLT administration suppressed the DOX-induced inflammatory response, oxidative damage and cardiomyocyte apoptosis in mice. Moreover, we found that the protective effect of PLT treatment was counteracted by sirtuin1 (Sirt1) knockdown. In summary, our study shows that PLT treatment can exert a protective effect against DOX-induced cardiotoxicity.